Router bit set poll

[vaking]

My first set was a 20-piece 1/4" shank set from Costco. I also got a 6-piece Craftsman set as a gift. Costco set was decent, much better than Craftsman. Costco set allowed me to learn what bits do and how they work. As bits ware out I replace them with 1/2" shank bits. By now almost all of the original 20 bits are gone. Some replacement bits are MLCS/Holbren/Woodcraft, most important bits are Freud/Lee Valley.

[leehljp]

I have two of the 66 piece 1/2 inch sets - one in Japan and one in the States. Other than this, I have carbide bits purchased going back nearly 40 years. The older ones were / have been re-sharpened. Other than the two 66 piece sets, I have a set - 1/2 in chamfer set that covers a full 3/4 in thickness on all pieces.

I have many many individual pieces, shapes, moulding bits and two or three rail and stile sets. The vast majority are 1/2, but I have about 30 - 35 1/4" bits.

All told in the US and here I have about 250 carbide bits - including the two 66 bit set as duplicates.

Some people can't have too many clamps . . . I can't have too many router bits!

Lets see - I have 3 routers (2 - 1/2", 1 - 1/4") here in Japan and 2 - 1/2" in the US. I gave two sears 1/4 inch routers away a couple of years ago. Routers used to be my most used tool.

[Wood_workur]

I've got a 1/4" ryobi with an 8 piece (ryobi) set and a few rockler bits.

It's not the best, but they do a pretty nice job for what I need.

[dkerfoot]

I am an advocate of buying a medium to large, cheap, general purpose set, then high quality versions of whatever special bits you still end up needing and/or as replacements when you wear out the cheap ones.

With a good sized cheap set, you are likely to have the odd bit you discover you need in the middle of a project. If you manage to wear one out, you know it is likely to see enough continued use to be worth replacing with high quality.

Nothing is sadder than high quality tools that don't get used.

When I do buy good bits, I love Whiteside and you can't go wrong buying from Holbren.

.

[LCHIEN]

Analysis of results.

With only a few days left in the poll, I think there are enough responses to draw some conclusions.


I think that not all people realized they could vote more than one - in fact had they owned 2 or more router sets they could have voted for the two sizes as well as the multiple sets for a total of three.

We had 154 responders.
We have 35 who said they preferred individual bits.
We have 101 responses for sets and another 32 who said they owned multiple sets.
And thus we got 168 total votes, so only 14 people who said they had multiple sets actually indicated bit set sizes they owned. we should have had more total votes but as I said, many people only voted for one check box.

However you can reach some conclusions:
It means that about 1/5th of the respondents like individual bits. About 4/5 of the respondents or 120/154 own and use multiple bit sets. That was surprising because the individual bit folks usually are quite vocal, making me believe in the past that they were split more like 50-50.

And by popularity, the sets of about 16-33 bits are the top of the curve- most owned. This must be the sweet spot at around $50-100 and a useful assortment and I sort of concur with that.

Finally, no one admitted to not owning a router. I would have bet there'd be a couple. Maybe they just did not elect to participate.

[leehljp]

About 4/5 of the respondents or 120/154 own and use multiple bit sets. That was surprising because the individual bit folks usually are quite vocal, making me believe in the past that they were split more like 50-50.

That is a trait that is hard for some people to "accept" or "understand", and sometimes it surprises me. I don't always take the "vocal" at face value, but try to balance it with the silent constituent numbers - on a given issue. In situations like this, "silence" doesn't usually mean disagreement (as it does in a wife / husband relationship) but more of a reflection of contentment.